Aşık Veysel

Who was Aşık Veysel?

Âşık Veysel Şatıroğlu, also known as just Âşık Veysel, was a Turkish minstrel and highly regarded poet of the Turkish folk literature. He was born in the Sivrialan village of the Şarkışla district, Sivas Province, on October 25, 1894 and died on March 21, 1973. He was an ashik, poet, songwriter, and a bağlama virtuoso, the prominent representative of the Anatolian ashik tradition in the 20th century. He was blind for most of his lifetime. His songs are usually sad tunes, often talking about the inevitability of death. However he does use a wide range of themes for his lyrics; based on morals, values and constant questioning on issues such as love, care, beliefs and how he "sees" the World as a blind man.